Cameron reaffirmed in his first blog post since quitting MS that his "work status" had changed at Redmond recently. But it turns out the resignation didn't mean he was altogether abandoning Microsoft.

"I did say [last month] that I hoped to keep my hand in the identity and social computing space to the extent that people found my input useful," he wrote.

"One way to do this was to look for opportunities to participate in interesting efforts on a per-project basis. It turns out that within a few days I was asked to do this with Microsoft over the summer. Not exactly a complete change (!) but it still feels liberating and different."

Cameron said in an interview posted on the ID conferences website last month that he was disappointed about the lack of an industry advocate championing what he has dubbed "user-centric identity", which is about keeping various bits of an individual's online life totally separated.

It's unclear if, given his newly independent status, he will now be planting himself firmly in that role.

One thing is certain, Cameron feels liberated having quit his job at Microsoft.

"Takeaway: Life is good, and even more than ever, this blog represents my own views, which can’t be blamed on anyone else even when I wish they could," he said on his well-respected IdentityBlog.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has stayed quiet on the future direction of its identity unit now that Cameron has sortof moved on. The Register has asked for fresh comment from Redmond, which up to now has declined to offer up any statements on the rejig underway.

The software maker has quietly been making changes to its identity access group in recent months, by shifting some of its key engineers out of the team in favour of fresh blood at the company's cryptography division.